Radical Muslim cleric arrested in U.K.

Mar. 9, 2013
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In this Nov. 13, 2012 photo, Abu Qatada arrives home after being released from prison in London. Abu Qatada was released on bail, having won his appeal against deportation, claiming he would not get a fair trial in Jordan where he is accused of plotting bomb attacks. / Peter Macdiarmid, Getty Images

by USA TODAY

by USA TODAY

LONDON (AP) - British police were searching a residential property Saturday following the arrest of radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada for allegedly violating his bail conditions.

The Home Office said counterterrorism police officers arrested the cleric in London on Friday, just days ahead of the government's latest court bid to extradite him to Jordan.

Britain has since 2001 repeated tried to remove Abu Qatada, 52, who was convicted in his absence in Jordan over terror plots in 1999 and 2000. Prosecutors have described him as a key al-Qaeda operative in Europe.

The preacher has fought deportation for the past decade on human rights grounds. European and British courts have ruled that there is a risk that testimony against him in Jordan may have been obtained through torture, despite assurances from Jordan that the kingdom's constitution would guarantee a fair trial.

He was released from custody and granted bail in November after the Special Immigration Appeals Commission, which handles major terrorism and deportation cases, upheld his appeal and allowed him to stay in the U.K.

The government is due to challenge that decision at the Court of Appeal on Monday.

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